Vodafone offers Rs 1,500 cashback on Samsung Galaxy J series

Vodafone announced cashback of Rs 1,500 on Samsung handsets Galaxy J2 Pro, Galaxy J7 Nxt and Galaxy J7 Max. Vodafone customers, both existing and new, can purchase any of the popular Samsung 4G smartphones, it said. To avail this special offer, prepaid customers have to sign up for the Rs 198 per month scheme that […]

BJP attempting to divide Dalits and Marathas – Congress

The Indian National Congress today alleged that the ruling dispensation at the centre, led by the Bharatiya Janata Party, was trying to create enmity between Marathas and Dalits — two prominent communities in Maharashtra that comprise nearly half the population. Senior Congress leader Veerappa Moily pointed to the ruling alliance as the source of reports […]

Maharashtra violence: BJP fears a repeat of Gujarat episode

BJP leaders have expressed worries that the Maharashtra Bandh called by Dalit organizations and some political parties in the state could be part of a political conspiracy by opposition parties to achieve a caste-based polarization in the state similar to what was seen in Gujarat. An election fought on caste-related factors and divisions is BJP’s […]

TRAI: India data price rises 22% in Q3; 4G accounts for 80% of data use

When Mukesh Ambani launched his telecom venture a year ago, it was based on one key assumption: India is a data starved country, and given the right pricing, demand for the commodity is almost insatiable. Going by the latest industry data from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, he may be right on the money. […]

RCom confirms sale of telecom assets to Reliance Jio

Reliance Jio, the firm led by Mukesh Ambani, will walk away with most of the telecom assets of Reliance Communications, led by Mukesh’s brother Anil. Rcom said it has “signed definitive binding agreements with Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited for sale of Wireless Spectrum, Tower, Fiber and Media Convergence Node (MCN) assets.” The Anil Ambani company […]

6,500 MW of wind projects to be auctioned in 3 months in India

The central government and various state governments will award contracts to set up another 6,500 MW (6.5 GW) of wind energy projects in the next three months, the ministry of renewable energy said. Combined with the 3 GW awarded in the first nine months of this fiscal year, this will take the total amount of […]

SOLAR MISSION: It’s another nail-biter for India in 2017-18

India faces steep odds in its race to meet its solar power addition targets for the current year. Last year, the country had added only 5.53 GW of incremental solar power capacity against a target of 6 GW. This year, the target is 10 GW. However, as of November end, it has added only 3.46 […]

Indian Govt & Courts block close to 4,000 internet urls in 2016 & 2017

The central government blocked 1,791 urls — websites or pages — and the courts blocked another 2,133 urls in 2016 and 2017, the department of telecom said. This was in addition to around 4,700 child pornography websites that were blocked as part of a CBI investigation. All content blocks on the internet are put in […]

Inter-ministerial group on telecom woes dismissed crisis theory, blamed telcos for high debt

The problem of high debt levels faced by some telecom companies in India was of their own making and the government had a limited to role to play in resolving the same, the inter-ministerial group set up to address the concerns of telecom sector found. The cash flow issues faced by the companies is related […]

Govt committed to concept of net neutrality – Manoj Sinha

Telecom minister Manoj Sinha today said the government is committed to the “the fundamental principles and concept of net neutrality” and is studying the recommendations of the telecom regulator in this regard. The government is keen to ensure “non-discriminatory access to internet,” Sinha added. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India had, a month ago, sent […]

Anil Ambani announces the end of Reliance Mobile

Anil Ambani, who warned about the possibility of the emergence of a ‘monopoly’ in Indian telecom three months ago, today said he was hanging up on his consumer telecom business. Ambani, younger brother to Mukesh Ambani — the chairman of Reliance Industries — said the mobile telephony business had changed into a new beast, and […]

Airtel, Idea & Vodafone to unveil 1GB/day pack at Rs 199

With Reliance Jio unveiling its first monthly tariff plans, all eyes are now on the incumbents — Bharti Airtel, Idea Cellular and Vodafone — to see how they will respond. Industry sources believe that the three operators will unveil a new 199 plan which gives 1 GB of data per day for 28 days to […]

Reliance Jio launches monthly plans 199 & 299 with 1.2 & 2 GB per day

As expected, Reliance Jio has launched its first monthly plans — Rs 199 for 1.2 GB per day and Rs 299 for 2 GB per day. The plans were anticipated after the newcomer unveiled its permanent plans on Diwali — more than a month ago. The plans price data at roughly the same levels as […]

BJP MP seeks solar lights for forest encroachers

Bishnu Pada Ray, the member of Lok Sabha representing Andaman & Nicobar Islands has asked for permission to install solar lighting systems in the homes of forest encroachers who are under order by the Supreme Court to evacuate the forest land. Ray wrote the letter seeking permission to install the lighting system in the homes […]

India seeks “viable project proposal” from Westinghouse for AP nuclear plant

The government of India said there was no change in its plans to set up a mega nuclear plant in Kovvada in Andhra Pradesh with bankrupt US technology provider Westinghouse. However, said the Department of Atomic Energy, the two parties are yet to arrive a “viable project proposal”. “Discussions are in progress between Nuclear Power […]